Felicia Casanova Joins Rutgers Institute for Health and Rutgers School of Nursing

Felicia Casanova, PhD, MA, has joined the Rutgers Health-RWJBarnabas Health Center for Climate, Health, and Healthcare at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research. She is also an assistant professor in the Division of Nursing Science at the Rutgers School of Nursing.

Casanova is a medical sociologist and health equity researcher whose work examines how climate-related disruptions, displacement, and structural conditions impact health and continuity of care, particularly among highly mobile communities and populations affected by HIV, cancer, and other chronic conditions.

“We are very happy to welcome Dr. Felicia Casanova, who exemplifies the kind of community-engaged scholarship that will represent our Center’s approach to climate and health research,” said Soko Setoguchi, the co-director of the Center for Climate, Health, and Healthcare. “Her work with farmworkers, immigrants, and mobile communities in South Florida has produced critical insights into how climate hazards intersect with social vulnerability. She understands that effective climate-health research requires partnership with the communities most affected.”

Casanova’s research integrates implementation science, social network analysis, and community-engaged approaches to strengthen climate-resilient health systems and improve population health outcomes. Currently, Casanova is the PI of a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities-funded K01 Career Development Award focused on how natural weather events impact HIV treatment and mental health in Puerto Rico.

“Dr. Casanova’s research addresses a critical gap in our understanding of how climate-related disruptions compound health disparities among already vulnerable populations,” said Setoguchi, who is also a professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Her work bridges medical sociology, implementation science, and climate-health research to better understand how health systems and communities respond to environmental disruptions, exposures, and related health challenges.

“Rutgers School of Nursing is pleased to welcome Dr. Casanova to our faculty,” said Charlotte Thomas-Hawkins, associate dean of the Division of Nursing Science and associate professor. “Her innovative research on the factors that impact health systems and health outcomes is both timely and essential, and we value the perspective and expertise she brings to Rutgers.”

Casanova has published over 12 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, including JAMA Network Open, Weather, Climate, and Society, Social Science & Medicine, Qualitative Health Research, Environmental Research: Climate (forthcoming).

“I’m excited to join Rutgers and the Center for Climate, Health, and Healthcare to advance interdisciplinary research at the intersection of climate change, health systems, and community health,” said Casanova. “My work has always been grounded in community-engaged research and collaboration, and I look forward to working with colleagues across Rutgers to strengthen climate resilience and support the health and well-being of communities navigating environmental and structural challenges.”

Prior to joining Rutgers, Casanova was an assistant professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Miami. She received her doctoral degree in sociology from the University of Miami and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Miami’s Center for HIV and Research in Mental Health and a research fellowship at the School of Public Health at Brown University.